Most real-time strategy (RTS) games are modelled around sci-fi or fantasy themes but Ensemble Studios’ 1999 PC gaming classic, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, used an authentic historical backdrop and featured 13 different civilisations for players to control.

The brainchild of Peter Molyneux, Black & White was one of the most innovative and challenging PC games of the early 2000s. It didn’t adhere to the typical 2+2=4 gameplay formula, and instead allowed players to explore their own personalities in a vast, virtual world.